The Helicopter, also known as the Helico or the HairlyCopter, is Rayman's signature ability. It consists of rapidly spinning the fronds of his hair, as if they were propeller blades, in order to hover and slow his descent. Rayman possesses this power in almost every game in which he appears, and like most of his powers, he seems to gain and lose it multiple times over the course of the series.

In the original game, the helicopter is the fourth power that Rayman receives from Betilla the Fairy (or from the Tings in the Game Boy Color version of Rayman. She grants it to him at the end of Allegro Presto. However, it is still possible to get it before the grappling fist, depending on the order in which the player chooses to play the levels. It allows Rayman's hair to spin very briefly like helicopter blades, which lets him jump further. This way, he can reach platforms which were previously inaccessible and glide back down to the ground with precision. Several other creatures in the game also possess helicopter hair, including Electoons and Antitoons.

By the end of the second episode, No Parking, Rayman uses the helicopter to save his friends from falling into a precipice. Questioned by Cookie about what was he doing, Rayman replies it was a small trick he learnt.

In Rayman 3, Rayman retains his normal helicopter ability. The super helicopter ability was revisited in the game as well, in the form of the Throttle Copter. The Throttle Copter was, of the five, the power with the shortest time limit, though it allows for brief flying similar to that in previous games.

In the Game Boy Advance version of Rayman 3, Rayman receives the power to fly with his helicopter so long as he obtained a Blue Lum – small ones let him fly for a little while, whereas large ones allow him to fly until the end of the level, similar to that of the world Magmacosm. Blue Lums are first found in Prickly Passage, however Rayman cannot use them until he has been given the power to do so by Ly. The first main level in this game to use these Blue Lums to continue is the Underlands. In this game, Rayman is unable to fly like the other games, as he can only stay in airborne for three seconds until he falls.